The Birth of Telecommunications: The Telegraph [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Telegraph]

pre-1600s The first telegraph? Perhaps drum communication [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_(communication)] or signal torches, such as thosed used for communication in ancient Greece [mlahanas.de: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Communication.htm ] as early as 1100s BC?

1664-1685 Robert Hooke [Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hooke demonstrates acoustic communication using wires stretched over wood frames [columbia.edu: http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/bluetelephone/html/part1.html]

1747 William Watson [answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/william-watson] demonstrates transmission of electrical signals over two mile wire

1753 "C.M." proposes extension to Watson's system that uses 26 wires to send messages [The Well: http://www.well.com/user/demarini/messenger.html]. Author is elsewhere identified as "Charles Morrison: http://www.answers.com/topic/1753"

1774 George Louis Lesage builds 26-line telegraph [answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/1774] based on C.M.'s design

1792 One of the first telecommunications systems of the industrial age was pioneered by Claude Chappe [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Chappe]. It was a semaphore system using mechanical arms. This was the first system called "telegraph" meaning "far writer". Other semaphore telegraphs [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphore_line] were developed in a similar time frame.

1796 Don Francisco Salv i Campillo installs 22 wire telegraph system linking Madrid and Aranjuez [answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/1796] (50 km distance). Signals are detected by people holding the wires who feel shocks or tingling!

1809 Samuel Thomas von Soemmering [incredible-people.com: http://profiles.incredible-people.com/samuel-thomas-von-soemmering/] develops electrochemical telegraph based on sending electrical signals over wires through containers of acid.

1832 Baron Pavel L'vovitch Schilling (aka Paul Schilling) [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Schilling] demonstrates electromechanical telegraph using binary communication.

1833 Carl Friedrich Gauss [wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Friedrich_Gauss] and Wilhelm Eduard Weber [wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Eduard_Weber] deploy first regularly used electromechanical telegraph. From Telegraph to ``The Birth of Radio'', 1867-1896

*1867 Maxwell predicts existence of electromagnetic (EM) waves *1887 Hertz proves existence of EM waves; first spark transmitter generates a spark in a receiver several meters away 1890 Branly develops coherer for detecting radio waves 1896 Guglielmo Marconi demonstrates wireless telegraph to English telegraph office ``The Birth of Radio''

*1897 ``The Birth of Radio'' - Marconi awarded patent for wireless telegraph 1897 First ``Marconi station'' established on Needles island to communicate with English coast 1898 Marconi awarded English patent no. 7777 for tuned communication 1898 Wireless telegraphic connection between England and France established Transoceanic Communication

*1901 Marconi successfully transmits radio signal across Atlantic Ocean from (first wireless communication across the ocean) Cornwall to Newfoundland 1902 First bidirectional communication across Atlantic 1909 Marconi awarded Nobel prize for physics Voice over Radio

*1914 First voice over radio transmission 1920s Mobile receivers installed in police cars in Detroit

1930s Mobile transmitters developed; radio equipment occupied most of police car trunk *1935 Frequency modulation (FM) demonstrated by Armstrong 1940s Majority of police systems converted to FM Birth of Mobile Telephony

1946 First interconnection of mobile users to public switched telephone network (PSTN) 1949 FCC recognizes mobile radio as new class of service 1940s Number of mobile users > 50K 1950s Number of mobile users > 500K 1960s Number of mobile users > 1.4M 1960s Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) introduced; supports full-duplex, auto dial, auto trunking 1976 Bell Mobile Phone has 543 pay customers using 12 channels in the New York City area; waiting list is 3700 people; service is poor due to blocking Cellular Mobile Telephony

1979 NTT/Japan deploys first cellular communication system *1983 Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) deployed in US in 900 MHz band: supports 666 duplex channels 1989 Groupe Spcial Mobile defines European digital cellular standard, GSM *1991 US Digital Cellular phone system introduced *1993 IS-95 code-division multiple-access (CDMA) spread- spectrum digital cellular system deployed in US *1994 GSM system deployed in US, relabeled ``Global System for Mobile Communications'' Wireless Local Area Networks

1990 Formation of IEEE 802.11 Working Group to define standards for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) 1997 Release of IEEE 802.11 WLAN protocol, supporting 1-2 Mbit/s data rates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band 1999 Release of IEEE 802.11b WLAN protocol, supporting 1-11 Mbit/s data rates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band 1999 Release of IEEE 802.11a WLAN protocol, supporting 1-54 Mbit/s data rates in the 5 GHz ISM band 2003 Release of IEEE 802.11g WLAN protocol, supporting 1-54 Mbit/s data rates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band 2009 Release of IEEE 802.11n WLAN protocol, supporting up to 150 Mbit/s data rates in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ISM bands. Wireless Local Area Networks

*1995 - FCC auctions off frequencies in Personal Communications System (PCS) band at 1.8 GHz for mobile telephony 1997 Number of cellular telephone users in U.S. > 50M 2000 Third generation cellular system standards? Bluetooth standards? 2008 FCC no longer requires cellular providers to support analog service.